This dazzling biography of Voltaire celebrates his extraordinary life through the thousands of his letters to have survived. We think of Voltaire as the epitome of the Enlightenment; in his own time he was also the most famous and controversial figure in Europe. Davidson tells the whole, rich story of his life (1694-1778) - his early imprisonment in the Bastille; exile in England and his mastery of English; an obsession with money, of which he made a huge amount; a scandalous love life; his infatuation with Frederick the Great; a long exile on the borders of Switzerland; his passion for watch-making; his human rights campaigns and his triumphant return to Paris to die there as celebrity extraordinaire. Throughout all of this Voltaire's life was always informed by two things: a belief in the essential value of toleration in the face of fanaticism; and in the right of every man to think and say what he liked.

"'Ian Davidson has done him full justice in this rich biography. He hides nothing of his hero's frailties and faults, but his greatness shines all the more brightly' (Allan Massie, Literary Review) 'One of the many great merits of this book is that it firmly puts the emphasis on Voltaire as a man. There is no shortage of biographies of Voltaire... but this is one of the best of them. Full of the revealing detail that French biographers tend to regard as vulgar gossip.' (Andrew Hussey, Financial Times)"